This invention relates to the field of photography and the creation of audio/visual presentations.
The addition of pre-recorded audio to a still photographic image is a cumbersome process which often requires skills in operating audio-visual equipment, i.e. slide projectors, tape recorders, CD players and computers. In order to effectively use each piece of equipment, the operator may be required to have specialized training, knowledge of the technology, creativity and time to learn, setup or program the device. In addition to combining any number of these devices to orchestrate the presentation, creation of the desired audio effects may involve application of sophisticated audio equipment to create and edit audio snippets of an appropriate duration.
The Kodak Portfolio Photo CD system was designed to overcome some of the educational and technical barriers of creating an audio-visual presentation. This system incorporates a Photo CD playback device which outputs scanned images and audio to a standard television. The device is similar to an audio CD player.
A Portfolio Photo CD disc may contain a combination of still images and audio snippets as content. Audio for a Portfolio Photo CD may be recorded at the time an image is taken or could be acquired from a pre-recorded audio source such as an audio CD or magnetic tape. A typical desktop computer is used to run the Portfolio Photo CD application software that provides a user-friendly interface for sequencing still images with audio snippets. The output of this application software is a xe2x80x9cscriptxe2x80x9d file which is later used as input, along with the image/audio content, to a Portfolio Photo CD build processor. The output of the build processor is a Portfolio Photo CD disc which contains the content and sequence information for playback of the audio-visual presentation.
When a Portfolio Photo CD disc has been finished, a Photo CD player is used to playback the disc on a standard television. A Portfolio Photo CD disc can also be played on a standard computer having an MPC II compliant CD ROM drive and the appropriate playback software. One drawback of the Portfolio Photo CD system is that once audio is associated with a particular image on CD it can never be changed on that particular CD for that particular image. Another inherent limitation in the Photo CD system is that a transitional delay occurs when displaying images because CD ROM drives are typically slow devices. This transitional delay may be long enough to cause a viewer to lose interest in the presentation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,126 (Kimball) describes a system for associating pre-recorded audio with images by means of a unique bar-code. The bar-code, representing a database index, is printed in the form of a sticker and attached on the page of a book adjacent to the image of a particular bird. The human reader uses an intelligent bar-code reader, a xe2x80x9csmart wandxe2x80x9d, to scan the bar-code sticker. Within the xe2x80x9csmart wandxe2x80x9d, logic is applied to determine an input control signal sent to an audio CD player device. Upon receipt of said control signal, the CD player device plays back the appropriate birdsong audio stored on the compact disc in the player. This method of associating images and audio relies on the proper CD audio disc having been loaded in the CD audio player, and a CD audio player having control means for directing the playback mechanism to playback audio information from a relative location on a compact audio disc.
A system for associating pre-recorded audio and inanimate objects, maps and pictures is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,698, whereby a hand-held device is used to actuate the playback of compressed audio information stored in a random access solid state memory. Bar-codes are utilized to encode index information identifying the audio information associated with an object. The audio information may be uploaded and downloaded to or from an external information system. Whereupon the user has requested narrative audio information by scanning a bar-code pertaining to an object of interest, the audio is read from the solid state random access memory and played back to the user via an audio reproduction means contained in the hand-held device.
Concessionaires located in museums, exhibition halls and national parks, very often sell or rent audio tapes, sometimes available in multiple languages. These pre-recorded tapes provide a visitor narrative descriptions of exhibits or scenery at the location being visited. Playback devices and headsets can usually be rented by the visitor for a nominal fee. DE 3,535,715 describes a system, providing a visitor to an exhibit hall or a museum, a reproduction apparatus that is enabled to interpret exhibit related signal information. The reproduction apparatus, upon receipt of said signal information, converts the signal to audio information pertaining to the exhibit being viewed by the visitor. The visitor actuates the system via a data-connection which automatically requests the relevant audio information for a particular exhibit from a centralized electronic information source. The visitor listens, via a headset, to the audio which is transmitted to the reproduction apparatus through the data-connection. This system allows for the audio reproduction of narrative descriptions in multiple languages.
An example of recording and reproducing image related audio information, captured at the time of exposure, and generating bar-coded information therefrom is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,996. The object of the invention is to provide a means for the recording and subsequent playback of voice annotation for a given photograph. The design of the camera includes a microphone, speaker, pattern converter, voice converter, digital memory, liquid crystal cell and a bar-code reader attachment. Voice input to the camera is converted to a pattern representing a bar-code. The conversion and playback of the bar-coded audio information occurs after the exposed film is processed and printed. The converted voice information is printed from the negative using classical optical printing means. The bar-coded voice information is scanned, using a bar-code reader attachment on the camera, from the photographic print. The signal produced from the bar-code reader is then converted back to audio via a digital data converter residing in the camera and reproduced audibly by a speaker arrangement imbedded in the camera body.
Other methods for associating and/or storing audio information with visual information are described by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,970,803 and 3,599,549. U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,803 describes a means for the reproduction of audio associated with an image by manual use of an optical scanner passed over printed indicia in a given direction. The use of photosensitive material for storing audio information in conjunction with image information is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,599,549. Other uses of silver-halide media for recording image related ancillary data include storage of bar-code information, fiducial marks providing scene reference geometry, date/time information and exposure information. There are drawbacks of using the exposure area on silver-halide media for storage of non-image data. The foremost drawback being the disruption of relevant scene information. Other drawbacks are improper and/or unreliable recording and interpretation of the information therefrom and the sacrifice of exposure area which could otherwise be used for maximizing the quantity of images obtained on a given length of film.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above. Briefly summarized, according to one aspect of the present invention, a system for associating a prerecorded audio snippet with a photograph, includes an audio data base containing a plurality of audio snippets, each snippet having a corresponding identification code. A scene identification display includes an identification code associated with the scene. A camera having a sensor for sensing the identification code on the display includes a memory for storing the identification code in association with a photograph of the scene taken by the camera. The audio snippet corresponding to the identification code is retrieved from the audio data base and reproduced in conjunction with the display of the photograph.
The advantages of such a system are that the end-user does not need to use a computer, software or other specialized piece of equipment to combine scene relevant audio with a specific photograph. The learning curve for taking a photograph and associating audio with it is minimized, and the enjoyment of photographs can be enhanced by having relevant scene information provided as a service from the photofinisher. Having audio information associated with the photograph is optional and none of the original image area on the print or positive image is lost due to exposing encoded data on the silver-halide portion of the image media itself.
The only user requirements for using the system are having a bar-code reader capable camera, data storage means and a playback device suitable for decoding and playing back the audio information stored to the EEPROM embedded in a sheet attached to the photographic print.
These and other aspects, objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood and appreciated from a review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and appended claims, and by reference to the accompanying drawings.